STRANGE THING / 6+

Is talking to a cat strange? Or burping after a meal? And who actually decides what is “strange”? In the show Strange Thing, you enter a world full of unusual customs and peculiar rules. Until one day, that world is turned completely upside down.

Strange Thing contains no spoken language (that we understand), making it accessible to anyone who may not yet speak Dutch fluently!

A strange world full of odd customs
A child and her mother live together in a colorful living room with a couch and a TV. They do everything together: flower arranging, cleaning, singing songs, doing laundry. Day in, day out, because the mother says so. “Stick to the rules, especially if you don’t understand them.” The curious child tries her best to listen carefully to what’s expected of her. But she doesn’t quite understand. What happens, though, when she decides to break the rules and go her own way? Follow her on a journey of discovery where nothing is what it seems.

Growing up between two cultures
Actress and theater-maker Evgenia Brendes was born in the late days of the Soviet Union, in 1980s Kazakhstan. At the age of twelve, she moved with her parents to Belgium, where she grew up among different languages and cultures. The experience of leaving her homeland and finding her identity in a new world forms the backdrop of her work.

For Strange Thing, Evgenia Brendes and her co-creator and co-performer Bram Coopmans drew inspiration from the illustrated books of Shaun Tan, the Oscar-winning artist and graphic novel writer. The final direction is by illustrator and theater maker Jef van Gestel.

Duration of the performance: 45 minutes